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<h1>Zk | 016</h1>
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<p>There was a strange sort of distance involved with my life as a cladist, just by virtue of the ways in which my world worked. It was a constant, something that I’d noticed shortly after uploading, something that had stuck with me ever since. It shouldn’t be the case that I would feel distance from what I was doing just because a fork was off doing something else in my stead, right? I would be getting all of their memories, after all. Everything they experienced would be come something that I had experienced, too. That’s what it meant to be a cladist, after all: an instance is specifically an instance of a cladist. They may think different thoughts and live separate lives for a few seconds, hours, or days, but they maintain the same identity.</p>
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<p>There was a strange sort of distance involved with my life as a cladist, just by virtue of the ways in which my world worked. It was a constant, something that I’d noticed shortly after uploading, something that had stuck with me ever since. It shouldn’t be the case that I would feel distance from what I was doing just because a fork was off doing something else in my stead, right? I would be getting all of their memories, after all. Everything they experienced would become something that I had experienced, too. That’s what it meant to be a cladist, after all: an instance is specifically an instance of a cladist. They may think different thoughts and live separate lives for a few seconds, hours, or days, but they maintain the same identity with the intent to come together again once more.</p>
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<p>And the memories here on the System were something far more than what they were back phys-side. Yes, they were imperfect: they collected the same sorts of impressions, attached the same amount of meaning and emotion to time and place. They were eternal, though. I could browse back through the life that I’d lived as Reed and as Marsh before that and pull together as exact a picture of what had happened as though it had happened only some hours ago.</p>
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<p>Nevertheless, there was a distance that came with experiencing two things at once. If I sent out a tracking fork to, say, go on an exploratory date with someone that I’d accidentally developed feelings for through an ill advised merge while both our down-tree instances attended a meeting with phys-side in the middle of the apocalypse, intellectually, I wouldn’t expect that I, as the down-tree, would feel some sort of distraction from the meeting at hand, as though I were looking over the shoulder of someone else. I wouldn’t expect that I would feel like I was living two lives at once, because that was specifically what forking was used for, right? It let us live two lives at once and yet still feel singular about the whole thing.</p>
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<p>Nevertheless, there was a distance that came with experiencing two things at once. If I sent out a tracking fork to, say, go on an exploratory date with someone that I’d accidentally developed feelings for through an ill advised merge while both our down-tree instances attended a meeting with phys-side in the middle of the apocalypse, intellectually, I wouldn’t expect that I, as the down-tree, would feel some sort of distraction from the meeting at hand, as though I were looking over the shoulder of someone else. I wouldn’t expect that I would feel like I was living two lives at once, because that was specifically what forking was used for, right? It let us live two lives at once and yet still feel singular about the whole thing. That was being a cladist.</p>
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<p>But here I was, confronted with the very real sense of distance I was feeling from this conversation between the representative sample of clades and phys-side, forcing me to consciously focus on paying attention.</p>
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<p><em>Or maybe I’m just anxious,</em> I thought.</p>
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<p>The topic of the conversation certainly had its share of anxiety-inducing power. We’d gathered once more in the room with the AVEC stage, finding our seats around the oblong table that had long since started to become familiar, while Günay and Jakub joined us from the L<sub>5</sub> station.</p>
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<p>“So there’s this person who’s effectively dead, right? You can bring them back to life, presumably stuck in a default sim, and they’re going to immediately go crazy because they’re suddenly all alone fifteen minutes before their plan was to go down,” he continued, ticking points off on his fingers. “CPV doesn’t work, they can’t quit, their plan was only 1% successful — if you even decide to tell them that! — and it actually made Lagrange loads safer with fixes and new features. Oh, and don’t forget, literally trillions of people hate them now.”</p>
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<p>Günay looked helplessly over to Jakub, who nodded. “That’s an ongoing conversation to be had sys-side,” he said, sounding as though he was choosing his words very carefully. “We can bring the DMZ back up whenever you would like, and you will retain full control over transit to and from the DMZ–”</p>
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<p>“Can you prevent 8-stanza-1 from entering the rest of Lagrange?” Debarre asked. “I’m with Harvey in that it’s kinda terrifying, but I also don’t exactly want them over here, either.”</p>
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<p>Jakub bowed. “That’s already been implemented, though if you want to lift it in the future, you will need to consult with phys-side. For this reason and for our sake, I’d like to ask that you keep us — phys-side and the System Consortium — up to date with whatever decisions you make regarding the DMZ and 8-stanza-1.”</p>
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<p>Jakub bowed. “That’s already been implemented, though if you want to lift it in the future, you will need to consult with phys-side. That’s how it was designed on the LVs, after all. For this reason and for our sake, I’d like to ask that you keep us — phys-side and the System Consortium — up to date with whatever decisions you make regarding the DMZ and 8-stanza-1.”</p>
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<p>Debarre shrugged. Harvey scoffed. Jonas Ko grinned, leaning back in his seat, saying, “Sure thing, Jakub.”</p>
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<p>After a moment’s uncomfortable pause, Need An Answer asked, “What can you tell us about the CPV device?”</p>
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<p>Günay, who had been slouching further and further down in her seat as the discussion had drifted away from the technical, sat up straight once more. “It was one of those things that was really clever and all the worse for it,” she said. “They uploaded a few months before the attack and went out to big public sims and met a bunch of people. When they set the bomb off, it hit them first, but before it did, it used their access to the perisystem clade listing to look up everyone they’d interacted with to go infect them and their cocladists after looking up everyone <em>they</em> knew about, and so on. This would have gotten more than 99% of the System, especially once it hit the new upload assistants, who have probably met more people than anyone else, including those who never talked to anyone else, sys-side. Once the number of uninfected cladists fell below a threshold — I think five billion? — the clade listing allowed access to a full listing of everyone sys-side, and the virus just mopped up from there.”</p>
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<p>Günay, who had been slouching further and further down in her seat as the discussion had drifted away from the technical, sat up straight once more. “It was one of those things that was really clever and all the worse for it,” she said. “They uploaded a few months before the attack and went out to big public sims and met a bunch of people. When they set the bomb off, it hit them first, but before it did, it used their access to the perisystem clade listing to look up everyone they’d interacted with to go infect them and their cocladists after looking up everyone <em>they</em> knew about, and so on. This would have gotten more than 99% of the System, especially once it hit the new upload assistants, who have probably met more people than anyone else, including those who never talked to anyone else since. Once the number of uninfected cladists fell below a threshold — I think five billion? — the clade listing allowed access to a full listing of everyone sys-side, and the virus just mopped up from there.”</p>
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<p>“What was that threshold even for?” Selena asked. “I thought it was part of the privacy policy that no one be able to just look up everyone on the System.”</p>
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<p>“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “It was all super old code. My guess is that it was leftover from the first few years of the perisystem architecture.”</p>
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<p>Dry Grass nodded. “I remember when we were able to look up everyone sys-side. We used to do it to see if anyone we recognized had uploaded in the last week.”</p>
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@ -46,11 +46,11 @@
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<p>Günay wilted in her chair, looking down at her desk, wherever she sat.</p>
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<p>Jakub, on the other hand, sat stock still for several long seconds. “Yes,” he said at last. “During the briefing prior to our first meeting, we were instructed that anyone who was asked were to say those words specifically. They were displayed in our HUDs.”</p>
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<p>Answers Will Not Help rolled her eyes. “Tacky.”</p>
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<p>“I suppose I ought to thank you for telling me the fucking truth after,” Jonas Ko said cheerily. “Good on you, Jakub! Perhaps there <em>is</em> a bone in your body, even if it isn’t your spine.”</p>
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<p>“I suppose I ought to thank you for telling me the fucking truth after,” Jonas Fa said cheerily. “Good on you, Jakub! Perhaps there <em>is</em> a bone in your body, even if it isn’t your spine.”</p>
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<p>The admin bristled at the insult, visibly forcing himself back to calmness before he continued. “You’ll remember that I also said we were maintaining information hygiene.”</p>
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<p>“Oh! Of course, you’re right. And whose idea was that?”</p>
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<p>“Shut up, Jonas,” Answers Will Not Help said fondly, preempting any response.</p>
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<p>“Needless to say,” Need An Answer said, “the response sys-side has been fraught. SERG <!--TODO--> had to throttle several of the main feeds after complaints that it had become an impossibly dense flow of information. There is grief. There is panic. There are calls for heads, ours <em>and</em> yours.”</p>
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<p>“Needless to say,” Need An Answer said, once more glossing over the tension, “the response sys-side has been fraught. Systechs focused on that sort of thing had to throttle several of the main feeds after complaints that it had become an impossibly dense flow of information. There is grief. There is panic. There are calls for heads, ours <em>and</em> yours.”</p>
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<p>“We’ve been shaping the sentiment as best we can,” Selena said. “But it would’ve been far easier if this had been a coordinated effort. As it is, we are keeping the anger and panic to tolerable levels and steering cladists towards grief. Better that than anger; some of those calls for your heads were hunting for ways to launch some sort of counterattack.”</p>
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<p>Jakub stiffened. “Which is precisely why we tried to control the release of information.”</p>
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<p>“Oh, we are not mad at you for that!” Answers Will Not Help said, laughing. “Good job on that front, we know well how difficult that can be. We are mad at you for being a fucking coward and withholding that information from <em>us</em>.”</p>
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<p>A hint of a smile touched her face. <em>“Do you not, my dear?”</em></p>
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<p><em>“Oh, I like her plenty. I actually kind of hope she uploads. I’m just wondering where that’s coming from.”</em></p>
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<p><em>“She is easily controlled,”</em> she admitted. <em>“But yes, I like her too, and I suspect she will be pushed by the Consortium to join us before long. I think that Jonas will, too, to turn her into a long-term asset.”</em></p>
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<p>“There are joint commemorations already in the works,” Abd al-Latif, one of the representatives, was saying. “Serene; Sustained And Sustaining has volunteered an unfinished sim that was under construction by one of her lost instances as a memorial, and a has been talking with a docent phys-side about a permanent AVEC channel open with one of their memorials.”</p>
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<p>“There are joint commemorations already in the works,” Abd al-Latif, one of the representatives, was saying. “Serene; Sustained And Sustaining has volunteered an unfinished sim that was under construction by one of her lost instances as a memorial, and has been talking with a docent phys-side about a permanent AVEC channel open with one of their memorials.”</p>
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<p>“That would be lovely,” Dry Grass said. “The loss affects both worlds, does it not? Every loss up here represents someone who once lived phys-side, who left behind family and friends. Will there be a posting of these commemorations? I know of many — myself among them — who would attend as many of them as possible.”</p>
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<p>Abd al-Latif bowed from where they were seated. “There will be, yes. We’ll work with you and Sedge to get that posted and pinned.”</p>
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<p>“It’d be nice to get some stills from those off to the LVs as soon as they begin,” Sedge said.</p>
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<p>Around the table, silence held for a long moment, faces blanched, tears flowed.</p>
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<p>After another few minutes, Need An Answer stood from her seat and bowed deeply to all present. “My friends, there is much to process in these letters, and there will be much to process in the months upcoming as more trickle in. I wish you all the best, and should you need to step away, you are free to do so. However, there remain two points on our agenda that I would like to address before we call an end to the meeting.”</p>
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<p>Two representatives stepped away immediately while the rest of us worked on mastering our emotions.</p>
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<p>“The next item on our list is the topic of information consolidation. Mr. Strzepek and Ms. Sadık, what can you tell us of this working group that has been set up.”</p>
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<p>“The next item on our list is the topic of information consolidation. Mr. Strzepek and Ms. Sadık, what can you tell us of this working group that has been set up?”</p>
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<p>Günay visibly brightened, leading Jakub to nod towards her. “Yeah! That was one of the things I helped start.”</p>
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<p>Need An Answer smiled. “Then I suppose we have you to thank.”</p>
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<p>Still grinning, she nodded. “It started as part of the information we gained from the LVs, a sort of library of ideas that had been sent our way, and then it grew to digging through the Artemis library. Both of those were what helped bring losses down from their initial numbers. There’ve also been a bunch of phys-side engineers here and on Earth that have been contributing.”</p>
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<p>“And I am assuming that we will be looped in on this, yes?”</p>
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<p>“Oh, of course, I willll…” She squinted off into the middle distance, then nodded decisively. “I’ve granted you admin access, you can loop in whoever you would like.”</p>
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<p>“Thank you, my dear. Can you give us a better precis of the current state of this library?”</p>
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<p>“Oh, um,” GÜnay started, frowning. “I guess. SERG on both LVs has come up with their own procedures and manuals and stuff, and they sent us all of those, plus a bunch of suggestions for things to try as we worked, so it’s got all of that information in it. We also had a few teams going through the Artemis library searching for instances of crashes in all of the civilizations they’ve encountered — the four races on board and the two who didn’t join. There was a bunch in there that we just grabbed wholesale and started sorting through.”</p>
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<p>“Oh, um,” GÜnay started, frowning. “I guess. Systechs on both LVs has come up with their own procedures and manuals and stuff, and they sent us all of those, plus a bunch of suggestions for things to try as we worked, so it’s got all of that information in it. We also had a few teams going through the Artemis library searching for instances of crashes in all of the civilizations they’ve encountered — the four races on board and the two who didn’t join. There was a bunch in there that we just grabbed wholesale and started sorting through.”</p>
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<p>“And what of us?” Dry Grass asked.</p>
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<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
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<p>“What of those times when you spun up Lagrange and kept it up for days or weeks before stopping it again? Did you keep the information from us? From all those systechs who were working?”</p>
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<p>Selena leaned forward. “That’s fascinating. Which systechs, though?”</p>
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<p>Günay furrowed her brow. “I don’t remember off the top of my head, but I can get you the list.” She paused, adding almost bashfully, “Though their memories were also trimmed.”</p>
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<p>“Why?” Answers Will Not Help snapped, rising to her feet.</p>
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<p>She shied away from the Odist. “Because…because everyone in the System went through that. We could only do a batch job. I’m sorry, nothing nefarious, I promise…”</p>
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<p>She shied away from the Odist. “Because…because everyone in the System went through that. We could only do a batch job. The only filter we were able to manage before losses started to grow was for those who uploaded in those 15 minutes to prevent neurological damage. I’m sorry, nothing nefarious, I promise…”</p>
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<p>Jonas Fa rested a hand on Answers Will Not Help’s arm, gently pushing her back into her seat. “Thanks, Günay. We’re going to trust you on that, but we may have questions later, okay?”</p>
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<p>“Right,” she said, sounding small.</p>
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<p>“Mr. Strzepek,” Need An Answer said, guiding focus over to Jakub. “Can you please tell us about the proposed changes to the System Consortium?”</p>
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